Beyond These Walls
by BagginAlong
Summary: Kairi's dad is strict and over protective, so he keeps her locked up in the house. She's home schooled and has an F socially. But what happens when a certain someone shows up -- and shows her the world? (SK) Rated PG-13 to be safe. R&R please :3
1. What I'd Kill For

(**Authorie-poo SAYS**: y helo thari!i Enjoy your ride along S.S. Baggs, because she started writing this fic at 12:30 AM and has LOADS of ideas in her brain! I know that whole sentence made no sense, but bear with me, eh? XD

Meh, I've had this fic idea in my head since August, I think, and I've been so busy with school, drawing, working on Confessions of a Teenage Trouble-Maker, and trying to beat Riku/Ansem... ::cough:: That I've really name no time to do anything. So here it is, finally.

BTW, for the VERY FEW of you who are waiting for chapter two of my Draco/Ginny fic, I seriously SERIOUSLY doubt I'm going to continue that since my obsession with Harry Potter died. So yeah, I'm baleeting that one.

All: YAY!  
  
Yeah, here it is folks. My utterly mischievous fic that's been hanging by cobwebs in the back of my mind.

And yes. This is written in the third person. XD)

Beyond These Walls

**Summary**: Kairi's dad is strict and over protective, so he keeps her locked up in the house. She's home schooled and has an F socially. But what happens when a certain someone shows up -- and shows her the world? SK

Chapter One: What I'd Kill For

Kairi leaned back in her chair, balancing her quill on her nose, breathing softly as not to disturb it. She new she was supposed to be finishing her Japanese work, but she couldn't concentrate on the Kanji characters and all their little lines and dots. She was too busy daydreaming, but yet, what else was there to do when your freedom was limited to a speck of dust?

As the quill fell for a fifth time, she gave up trying to un-bore herself, and returned to the mind-boggling symbols in front of her. Why were there so many characters for so many things? In the English language, you only had 26 letters. It was so much easier that way.

Kairi rubbed her temples with her fingers. She'd been translating scripts all day, and her professor would be here any minute now. She still had two sentences to work out and correct, but her brain was pretty much fried. If she could fit another piece of information in there, she'd throw a party with the kids on her street.

Like that would ever be possible.

Kairi sighed deeply, blowing her bangs upwards. She bent over the scroll and began to write slowly, carefully...

"Kairi! Professor Muyi is here! KAIRI!"

Kairi jumped an inch out of her seat, sending her quill flying and splattering ink all over the wall. She threw her arms up into the air. "I surrender!" She said quietly to herself as she stormed up the stairs, opening the doors fiercely while grunting with frustration.

"Don't you dare use that tone with me, young lady." Kairi's father threatened. Kairi rolled her eyes to herself and walked past him, only to be grabbed by her wrist by her father and brought around to meet his eyes.  
  
"I mean it." He muttered to her. Kairi sighed and bowed. "Yes, sir." She stood up and made a rude gesture at him while his back was turned. (**A/N**: Ooh, how many of YOU flip off your parents? Yeah, you know you do. Admit it. We all do XD)

Professor Muyi waddled into the kitchen. He was short and quite plump, sporting a deformed nose from surgery gone wrong. He was definitely an old man, you could tell from a mile away. His hair was silver-white, and his wrinkles had wrinkles. His skin didn't seem to fit him right, so flaps of the excess skin hid his eyes. "Kairi," He turned to her and bowed shortly and quickly, as if it was possible for him to even walk at his age.  
  
"Good afternoon, Professor." Kairi exchanged the polite greeting, although she knew she'd rather be anywhere else but here right now. She carefully took the frail man's arm and led him downstairs into her room, where she did all of her studying.

Kairi's father was quite over-protective of her, but extremely strict. After getting married and dumped on the street dozens, and once left at the alter, her father vowed to never let Kairi make the same mistakes he made. That's why Kairi was leading a dull and useless life, locked up in her house all day long. Once a week she was let out outside--to her backyard--where she'd get five minutes of fresh air. But that was all. To her father, anything more was a huge risk. Kairi felt she was living one huge lie.

Of course, when you'd been cooped up all your life, you wouldn't know much about the outside world, either. For example: The only foods Kairi's father would fix were the foreign kinds. Just because they lived in America, didn't mean he would fix her hamburgers or french fries or pizza like everyone else. Kairi had barely heard these terms used at all. She'd never seen a cartoon show where they dropped anvils on each other's heads, either. The first time she almost did, her TV was unplugged and confiscated. Even the news was too dangerous to her viewing.

After two long hours of endless droning about ancient Japanese history and almost dozing off multiple times, Professor Muyi finally bid her good day and left. After waiting about five minutes (the amount of time it took the man to walk up the stairs), Kairi dove underneath her bed and pulled out a clear plastic box filled with dirty magazines.

Each magazine featured a nice looking lady or man, and each of them had headlines such as "Who got fat and who slimmed down!" Or "101 Beauty Secrets - How to look just like the stars." Kairi would always laugh at these, picturing herself looking like a giant star. She giggled to herself as she flipped through one of the older magazines with Madonna on the front.

Every week when Kairi was let out for a breather, she'd spend the entire time searching for signs of life outside her home. Most of the time she'd find scattered magazines from random houses, but other times she found junk food packages and used lottery tickets, plastic bags from various super markets, and once even police tape. She knew it was childish and strange to keep a trash collection, but she treasured every bit of it.

She longed to know what lied beyond her walls.

Kairi was so deprived of modern knowledge, that sometimes she drove herself crazy trying to discover life's secrets: Who was Britney Spears, what goes into a hamburger, and how many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?

Kairi sighed and plopped down onto her bed.

"I'd kill someone to get out of this hell hole." She whined to herself.

Kairi laid there for what seemed like hours before her dad came thundering down the stairs, carrying his belt in his hands. Kairi knew this meant absolutely no good: he was going to inspect her room.

Kairi's heart jumped. She'd totally forgotten about the ink stain on her wall. Her father would have her hide if he found it. Kairi got up cautiously and edged over to her desk with a cloth, but it was too late, her father was too quick for her.

"What's THIS?" He asked, voice shaking. Kairi felt so stupid. She knew how touchy her father was, and now she was in for it.

"What's what?" Kairi asked dumbly, only worsening the situation for herself.

"Don't be stupid, Kairi." Her father spat. "THIS." He pointed at the ink splatter.

"Oh, that... well..." Kairi racked her brain for a suitable answer, but came up with nothing. It didn't matter now, her dad was on a roll, and she was going to get what was coming in the first place.

"You know the rules. You keep your end of the house clean, do all your work and stay away from strangers, and I'll shelter you and feed you. Would you like it if I kicked you out onto the street?" He growled.

Fear shot through Kairi's body. Without the support of what... what was this called? A family, Kairi wouldn't be able to survive. "N-no... I wo-wouldn't." She stumbled over her words.

"Well then you won't mind if I teach you a lesson, then, will you?" Her father glared at angrily at his daughter and pulled out his belt, whipping her in the back. "Don't make me do that again." And he left.

Kairi winced as soon as he was gone. She showed no fear, no pain around him, but once he was gone, she let it all out. Tears trickled down her cheeks, and she checked her back in the mirror. There was a raw red slash across the right side. She ran her fingers alone her spine.

A new scar would form. Next to the twenty others she had.

(**A/N**: Gah! Suspense! DUN DUN DUN! ::cue dramatic music:: Yes, I know this chapter sucks, but it was pretty much just the intro to Kai-kai's life. XD Plus I'm only running on apple cobbler from 9:00 PM. It will get better, I promise! Just review, and I'll lurbe you forever and ever and ever.

Want some pie?)


	2. A Brunette Stranger

**A/N**: Poor neglected fanfics. How I've missed you. ;-;

Anyway. I've finally decided to finish this fic, after a month or two of letting it sit there. XD

Eh, I kinda made a tiny plot change to this, which you'll see later. LATER. XD

Anyway… on to the fic… :D

**Disclaimer** (holy shizzle, I forgot about these in other fics XDD): I don't own Kingdom Hearts, bish. RUB IT IN, WHY DON'T YOU? ;; I also don't own the song "Nobody's Home" by Avril Lavigne. Yeah. She owns it.

**Beyond These Walls**

Chapter Two: A Brunette Stranger

Kairi grabbed her pillow, throwing against the wall in fury, sobbing and gasping for air. She envied all those with families that cared for their children. Those who had loving parents, who'd always be there to protect them. But… what would protect her against her father?

Kairi threw herself onto her bed, wailing into her bed covers. She knew it was childish, and though she was used to it, nothing could stop the tears from coming.

She sat there, taking deep breaths, wiping her eyes and trying to calm down. She tried to think of something to do, but there was nothing. Her dad didn't allow her to have books (besides History and educational books), a computer, a television, a game system, a radio… nothing. Kairi grabbed her pad and pen, staring at the blank sheet, words processing in her mind. She hugged her soggy pillow, hoping some sort of inspiration would come, some sort of words that would transform themselves into some lyrics Kairi could use.

That was Kairi's secret ambition – to become a singer. She didn't let her father know… he'd have a fit. She wouldn't let anyone know but herself. It was just another secret she'd let linger in her mind, a secret that would never come true. Ever.

Kairi couldn't think of anything, nothing at all. Her feelings were melting away, putting her in her blank state. That state of mind usually came after a beating, after pouring out the tears, after letting the world know what she was going through.

She pulled out a lyrics sheet from her drawer. The only song she'd ever heard of, as a matter of fact. She'd been outside once, and found a piece of paper with words—no, lyrics—that also had scribbled notes written on them. Kairi remembered the feeling—she was very good at singing notes seen on paper, so she decided she'd sing the song when she was alone. She'd tucked the paper into her jacket, and fell in love with the song the first time she sang it. It described exactly how she felt…

Kairi stood up, and, smoothing the front of her long skirt as if she was performing in front of an audience, took a deep breath, reciting the song from heart.

"_Well, I couldn't tell you  
Why she felt that way  
She felt it everyday  
And I couldn't help her  
I just watched her make  
The same mistakes again_

_What's wrong, What's wrong now?  
Too many, too many problems  
Don't know where she belongs  
Where she belongs_

_She wants to go home  
But nobody's home  
That's where she lies  
Broken inside  
With no place to go  
No place to go  
To dry her eyes  
Broken inside_

_Open your eyes  
And look outside  
Find the reasons why  
You've been rejected  
And now you can't find  
What you've left behind_

_Be strong, be strong now  
Too many, too many problems  
Don't know where she belongs  
Where she belongs_

_She wants to go home  
But nobody's home  
That's where she lies  
Broken inside  
With no place to go  
No place to go  
To dry her eyes  
Broken inside_

_Her feelings she hides  
Her dreams she can't find  
She's losing her mind  
She's falling behind  
And she can't find her place  
She's losing her faith  
she's falling from grace  
She's all over the place, yeah_

_She wants to go home  
But nobody's home  
That's where she lies  
Broken inside  
With no place to go  
No place to go  
To dry her eyes  
Broken inside_

_She's lost inside  
Lost inside, oh ohhh  
She's lost inside  
Lost inside, oh ohhh yeah_"

Kairi stopped singing, falling to her knees. Burying her face in her hands, shaking violently with sobs, she curled up into a ball and quietly cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Kairi was shaken awake by her father, any look but concern on his rough face. His muscles were etched with age and anger. "Let's go." He grunted. "It's time for you to go outside. I have to make a trip to the market, but you are not to leave the yard. If I find out you have, you can be sure you'll hurt by tomorrow." And with that, he left, leaving his eerie presence to haunt Kairi. Shaking, Kairi got to her feet, silently trudging up the wooden stairs.

She grabbed her opaque cardigan from the coat tree, and stepped into the fresh cold air. She took it all in, smiling, sadness melting. The autumn air felt simply amazing, not to mention the crispness of the fallen leaves smelled like a new beginning.

Kairi kicked up some of the brick red and orange maple leaves that had fallen, singing a tune to herself. One of the songs she'd written, one that she loved, one that provoked her thoughts.

Smiling, she leaned up against an old oak tree; closing her eyes, quiet tears rolling down her cheeks. She was getting lost in her dreams again, but it didn't mind her much.

After about an extra five minutes outside, she decided it might be best to get back in before her father came home. Reluctantly, she helped herself up, shielding herself against the cold wind that was nipping at her rosy cheeks. She was about to start walking to the back porch when she heard a rustling behind her.

_Strange._ Thought Kairi. _Nobody lives for miles around here… then again; it could just be a little animal._ She thought nothing else of it, shrugged and leaned forward to begin walking, when the bush behind the fence sneezed. _Funny, bushes don't sneeze._ Kairi laughed to herself at the thought. She walked to the fence cautiously, deathly scared of what was behind it, only because she'd been raised under such strict precautions. She peeked through one of the holes in the fence, only to find a boy. Kairi gasped.

The boy had brunette, spiky hair that stuck out in all places defying the laws of gravity. His eyes, as Kairi found, were a deep, gorgeous blue, sparkling with mischief and mystery. Flecks of turquoise and green added warmth to those eyes. Oh, how Kairi wanted to get lost in those eyes…

She shook herself out of it. The boy was blushing now… or was it just the cold? He took a breath. "Hello." He whispered. Kairi opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She'd never met another person her age before. The boy laughed quietly. "How are you?"

Kairi bit her lip before speaking. Could she trust him? "Er… cold, I suppose, and yourself?"

The boy smiled. "I'm fine, thank you." He was polite, and she was making fair conversation with him. A plus. He could probably be trusted.

"Who are you… and what are you doing here?" She blurted out nosily, before wishing she could slap herself in the forehead.

The boy went to say who he was, when a voice called out. "KAIRI!" It was deep. It was her father's. Her face froze in fear.

The boy sensed this, whispering quickly. "Look, when can I see you again?"

Kairi didn't know what to say, but, her mouth working faster than her brain did for her. "Next Wednesday." She blinked. "I… I have to go. Now." And she ran, only to reach the inside before he entered the house.

* * *

A/N: REVIEWS ARE NICE, YES? They're what I want for Christmas. x) 


	3. A Meeting of Wonders

**A/N:** And so I update again, jolly good souls! I think three chapters is the most I've ever devoted to one fiction written by just myself… yaaay, meeeee…

Soo, tonight I get to go to my cousin's house and just sit there… BORED… OUT OF MY MIND… because of all the little children running around screaming 'UNDERPANTS'… wish yer ole' buddy good luck. XD

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY! In light of the… er, new year… I'm going to update ALL my fics.

Random people:coughcough:

Dude. Eye descriptions are fun. XD I talk to much. Yes, yes, okay, on with the fic, I suppose.

**(Um… okay, so… I never updated this… DON'T KILL ME FOR BEING 4 MONTHS SLOW, AHKAY?)**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, bish. RUB IT IN, WHY DON'T YOU? ;-;

**Beyond These Walls**

Chapter Three: A Meeting of Wonders

Kairi stood panting, huddled against the back door. The door knob to the front door turned slowly. Kairi held her breath and pulled off her coat stealthily, gently placing it on the coat rack and dashing off to her room. She let her breath out and wiped her brow. That'd been too close.

"KAIRI!" He called again. "DAMMIT, KAIRI, GET UP HERE."

Kairi tried to keep her deep and heavy breaths steady and calm as she jogged up the stairs again.

"Y-yes father." She said, out of breath as soon as she reached him. His face was red in frustration.

"Girl, you come when I call you the first time." Girl. He'd called her girl. Well, it wasn't a first, but it still hurt. He couldn't even call his own daughter by her first name. Kairi winced. "Yes, father, I'm sorry. I was distracted by my Kanji studies." She bowed. More lies. It's was practically what she lived on to keep the skin on her bum.

Kairi's father raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Yes, well, there's a time for studying, and there's a time for obedience. Now, tend to the dishes, unless you want me to serve tomorrow's breakfast on filthy plates."

Kairi held in a sigh and a nasty look until her father was out of site. She hated doing the dishes. She especially hated doing the dishes when there was a perfectly good dishwasher that her father refused to let her use. She shuddered, picking up a dirty dish and rinsing it off before scrubbing it with a rag. Cool water and leftover spaghetti sauce did not mix.

After about a half hour of wiping off leftover, soggy foods, Kairi dried off her now pruney hands and squeezed excess water from her shirt. She quickly rinsed any debris from the sink and tiptoed downstairs so she wouldn't wake her now snoring father.

Slipping under her silk sheets, she curled herself up into a ball, sinking deeper into the mattress to keep warm. All that flashed through her head that night, and the many nights to follow, were the images of that boy. How she loved those dreams.

* * *

The following Wednesday, Kairi could hardly keep in her emotions. She was far more cheery than usual. She washed the dishes extremely quickly, finished her History homework in a beat, did extra chores and practiced the guitar for the first time in weeks. This peaked her father's suspisicion.

"Kairi… you seem… happy…" He approached with caution. Kairi fought back the smirk now tugging at the corners of her mouth. He didn't want her to know that he never saw her happy. "Is there something I should now about?"

She kept a straight a face as she could and bowed low with respect at her father. "No, Papa, everything is fine." And she skipped off to her bedroom.

Back in the kitchen, her father's brow was still raised. "…Papa?"

* * *

Finally, her father's hand was resting on the shimmering golden door knob, ready to turn it. "Kairi, I'll be gone for about a half an hour, seeing as I've got to make a stop at work. Nanna will keep an eye on you while you're outside, won't you, Nanna?" He stroked an old cailco cat affectionately, who purred in turn. 

Kairi did her best to look disappointed. "Yes, father." She sighed dramatically as he left, and as soon as his car was far from the view of their Victorian windows, she jumped in delight and hugged Nanna warmly.

"Oh, Nanna, you won't tell father if I'm out a little bit longer than usual, will you?" She begged the cat.

Nanna meowed happily in return, the 'universal' sign for 'Your secret's safe with me!'. Nanna loved Kairi as much as she loved Nanna, but she kissed up to her father to save Kairi's butt and keep her trust with him steady. It was almost like Nanna was human, and sometimes, Kairi swore she was.

Kairi smiled, her current disposition screaming anticipation, and ran to the coat tree with a skip and a hop as she pulled on her blazer and tugged on her sneakers.

Excitement pulsed through her veins as Kairi burst the through the backdoor, feeling numb to the sweet autumn air. All she needed to do was wait for that spiky haired boy again.

And so she stood there, hands shoved warmly in pockets, eyes squinting and watering against the fierce wind. Chilly breezes nipped at her cheeks, turning them a bright pink, stabbing her skin with imaginary needles. Any moment now… he'd come.

Kairi waited for about five minutes, when she decided to head back inside, heart completely sunken. Her first sign of civilization—of a friend—and she'd gone and blew it. Well, that was Kairi for you. Couldn't hold on to another human being if she tried. She sighed and held back her tears when she heard a rustle in the bushes and a whispered curse.

"Who… who's there?" She asked cautiously, but unneccessarily. There was nobody else who'd be creeping in their bushes.

"It's me!" Came a familiar voice. Kairi glowed with happiness. The boy had come back, just as he said he would. "Can you, er, help me out? I'm stuck."

Kairi laughed in spite of herself and rushed over to where the source of the voice was coming from. She grabbed his arm and helped him out. The boy smiled and brushed himself off. Kairi stared at him in disbelief. This boy was wearing red a red short sleeved and knee-cut jumpsuit with a tiny steel grey and navy short-sleeved jacket over it. He scratched the back of his head. "Something wrong?"

"You're crazy." Kairi blurted out absentmindedly. She shook her head. "I mean, how can you WEAR that on a day like this?"

He shrugged. "I just do." He began to walk around, kicking stones everywhere in a bored sort of fashion. Kairi folded her arms. "I never caught your name, you know."

The boy looked over and smirked. "Oh, I suppose not." He held out his hand. "Sora." He smiled.

Kairi took it happily and shook it. "I'm Kairi."

Sora looked around her yard. "I haven't seen you around before." He said simply.

Kairi shook her head, her happiness washed away, replaced by hollow gloominess. "Yeah… well… my dad doesn't let me out much."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

Kairi furrowed her brow and looked to the side, shoulders hunching up to her ears to keep them warm. "Just because."

Sora just stared at her, no mistake in his expression that be didn't believe her, but thought it best not to ask anymore. His jaw dropped in shock. "Wait, so that means you've never been to Jake's?"

Kairi tilted her head to the side. "Who's Jake?"

Sora smirked again and laughed at her naivete. "How much time you got?"

Kairi obliviously smirked back at his. "Your grammar is atrocious." She stuck out her tongue. "I have about twenty minutes left."

"Great, that should give us enough time." And he grabbed her hand and took off.

Kairi was stunned; nobody she knew grabbed her spontaneously, well, other than her dad. But, she didn't do anything about it. There was something about this stranger that she liked. Something warm and comforting.

About 30 feet behind her back yard was an old road and a bike. Sora climbed onto the seat, strapping on a helmet. (A/N: Remember kids, always wear your helmet:D) "Hop on." He said.

Kairi raised her eyebrows. "Where? On the back?"

Sora smirked and swung his leg over, getting off. He paced back and forth behind her, looking at something. "Hmm, I think your butt is small enough." He smiled innocently and climbed back on.

Kairi felt her cheeks turn a bright red. How dare he look her over like that? "Little pervert…" She mumbled under her breath. Kairi, amazingly, fit herself onto the back of the bike seat as Sora peddled off up the street.

Besides the fact that Kairi was sitting behind some stranger pervert guy she barely knew, and that she was going to have fifty more scars on her back by the time she came home, she felt amazing. Wind filtered between strands of her slightly-magenta hair, sending it flipping crazily in the air, like little men dancing the can-can. Well, men don't dance the can-can. I hope they don't at least.

And if Kairi had been able to look into his eyes, even for a split second, so that she'd be able see what lies beyond them for just a fleeting moment, she'd see he was trustworthy. This experience was what he lived for; helping others. (A/N: YES IT'S CHEESY, BEAR WITH ME)

Even over the roar of the engine, Kairi could still hear the sounds of pedestrians chatting, laughing, enoying themselves. Kairi smiled in spite of the tears now stinging her eyes. How jealous she was of them, always together, always happy, never isolated and lonely. Her first real-world experience with a complete stranger. She laughed, whole-heartedly for the first time in her life, and let out a loud whoop.

Sora revved up the motor, accelerating forward. The traffic was thin; they were speeding and nobody cared.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of complete and utter bliss, the motorcycle came to a hault in front of a tattered but wonderful scented place. Kairi smelled the air in wonder of what could smell so… delicious.

Sora helped her off the bike gently before removing his helmet. the wisps of Kairi's fine hair were windswept and tangled from the hemlet sitting there for so long. Sora's hair, amazingly, still kept that gravity-defying shape. Kairi stared at him for just a second before her eyes (and lungs) filled with laughter. Soon enough, Sora caught her case of the giggles and before you knew it, they were leaning on each other for support. For just a small moment, just a fleeting moment, her twinkling eyes and his truthful ones met, and she knew.

He wasn't going to hurt her.


End file.
